16th Annual AT&T St. Louis
International Film Festival
Features
Of Love and Eggs
(Rindu kami padamu)
Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, 2004, 90 min.
Indonesian with English subtitles
Saturday, Nov. 17, 4 p.m., COCA
This perfect family film brings gentle humor to the complex relationships between parents and children and to social and religious issues of life in and around a rural Jakarta mosque. A sweet, heartwarming story, the film is told through the eyes and voices of children and features a prayer rug, young love – and eggs.
On Each Side
(A Cada Lado)
Hugo Grosso, Argentina, 2005, 101 min.
Spanish with English subtitles
Saturday, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., COCA
Sunday, Nov. 18, 1:30 p.m., COCA
“There are moments when I feel like stepping into each of their stories,” says the photographer hired to document construction of a bridge that will connect Victoria with Rosario – two towns on either side of a river. “But that is a different movie,” he sighs, unaware that his own story will be changed by the lives he touches with his camera. Building the bridge takes years, transforming lives on both sides of the river. It brings engineers and construction workers, even creates its own legend – it is said that until they finish, it is not going to rain. Two carefree boys grow into teenagers as the bridge takes shape; a mysterious engineer touches the lives of the elderly sisters who rent him a room. The photographer’s pictures document the process of change, but even he is unprepared for the transformation that only begins when the bridge is complete.
Orphans
Ry Russo-Young, USA, 2007, 80 min.
Saturday, Nov. 10, 5 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
Two women struggle with their personal demons and troubled bonds in this electrifying, independent drama. Rosie and Sonia are two estranged sisters who haven’t seen one another in five years, having been on bad terms since their parents died in an auto accident. Now in their early 20s, Rosie and Sonia each struggle to make it on their own. Despite their differences, Sonia asks Rosie to come home for her birthday party, and Rosie agrees. The party turns out to be a two-person affair held in an old farmhouse in the midst of a blizzard, and as the siblings try to buffer their tensions with drugs and alcohol, they bond in an alternately loving and painful manner as they confront their pasts.
Director Russo-Young will attend.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
(OSS 117: Le Caire nid d’espions)
Michel Hazanavicius, France, 2006, 99 min.
French with English subtitles
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
“OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” is the eighth installment in a long-running series of movies about OSS 117: a French super spy and European equivalent of James Bond. OSS eventually starred in over 265 novels through 1970. The first seven film adaptations were sober and straight-faced; this eighth go-round (the first after a 38-year lapse) does a 180-degree turn to shamelessly poke fun at the rules established by the spy-film genre. The film’s comic conceit makes OSS arrogant, conceited, culturally insensitive, chauvinistic and thoroughly moronic, yet the character somehow manages to slide through outrageously dangerous situations unscathed. In this wacky, side-splitting tale, OSS journeys from Rome to Cairo, where he investigates the death of a fellow agent who had been posing as the proprietor of a chicken farm.
Grand Prix Award at 2007 Tokyo International Film Festival;
Best Production Design at 2007 César Awards, France
Sponsored by Alliance Francaise of St. Louis
Persepolis
Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, France, 2007, 95 min.
French, Arabic, English with English subtitles
Saturday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
An animated film based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis” is the poignant story of a young girl’s coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Through the eyes of precocious and outspoken Marjane, we see a people’s hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power, forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, Marjane outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. As she gets older, Marjane’s boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety and they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager and combats being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses.
Jury Prize at 2007 Cannes Film Festival; Special Jury Prize at 2007 Cinemanila International Film Festival
Sponsored by Star Clipper Comics
Pleasant Moments
(Hezké chvilky bez záruky)
Vera Chytilová, Czech Republic, 2006, 113 min.
Czech with English subtitles
Sunday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m., Webster University
An overworked psychologist struggles to balance her formidable workload with her failing love life to little avail in director/co-writer Vera Chytilova’s quiet psychological drama. Between the insecure art historian and the rest of her distressed patients, put-upon psychologist Hana can barely find time to think about her own needs, much less the needs of her increasingly bored husband. Though it seems that there are few things these days that can draw the hard-working therapist away from her work, wealthy suitor Dub does his best by repeatedly sending Hana flowers. As Hana’s marriage continues to fail and the eager Dub considers looking elsewhere for romance, the woman who can’t seem to make up her mind about anything is forced to make one of the most important decisions of her whole life.
Ploy
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand, 2007, 105 min.
Thai with English subtitles
Saturday, Nov. 10, 9:45 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Monday, Nov. 12, 7:15 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
SLIFF favorite Pen-Ek Ratanaraung (“6ixtynin9,” “Citizen Dog,” “Monrak Transistor”) returns with a sensuous tale of marital jealousy. The sudden, violent death of a relative brings Wit and his wife, Dang, back to Bangkok from America, where they own a Thai restaurant. Checking into a hotel, Wit goes down to the lobby bar, where an alluring young woman named Ploy approaches him and asks for a cigarette and a light. The meeting sets in motion a tale of love and jealousy, starting with subtle suspicions and building to a devastating climax.
Rainbow Song
(Niji no megami)
Naoto Kumazawa, Japan, 2006, 118 min.
Japanese with English subtitles
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 9:30 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
Thursday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m., Plaza Frontenac
A friendship and youthful love affair forged in a college film club sets the stage for this poignant film with some of Japan’s hottest young actors. Tomoya, an incompetent but well-meaning staffer at a TV production company, discovers that his college friend has died in a plane crash in the United States. As he struggles to deal with the devastating news of her passing, he relives some of their past together – from their first meeting to their final farewell.
Best Supporting Actress at 2007 Kinema Junpo Awards, Japan; Best Supporting Actress at 2006 Hochi Film Awards
Ruzzian Roulette
Falaq and Rukahs, USA, 2007, 84 min.
Friday, Nov. 9, 7:15 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
Thursday, Nov. 15, 5 p.m., Tivoli Theatre
Through a series of interconnected stories, this raw, arresting drama – shot in St. Louis and inspired by a track by local hip-hop group the Apostlez – explores the costs of irresponsible sexual behavior in the African-American community and honors the victims and survivors of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Co-directors Falaq and Rukahs and cast members will attend.
Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Experimental or Innovative Feature Film at 2007 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase
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